Lin Jian"s contact back at Wen Feng gave them a piece of good news --- they were able to find the woman and also her aunt. They would bring her to them right away in a secluded place that Mi Hui owned at Lin Zhou, so it should be safe and easier to interrogate her. They would arrive the next day with the woman"s whole family.
Yao Ling knew that General Hu"s wounds would get better soon so she made a tweak on her treatment and prolong his recovery for a little bit so they would gain a bit more time. She didn"t forget to check on Qing Hui"s condition once a day but it seemed like she could only wake him up after the matter with Han Xiang had finished. She didn"t want everything to clash and in the end, ruined their plan.
Hei Yue agreed with her arrangement because he had given Yu Wen a full reign for the moment, so he didn"t really have anything to --- except for taking care of Qing Hui. Yu Wen didn"t forget to give a report about his progress from time to time. He had arrived at A Thousand Words and he was investigating the one who dared to poison Qing Hui under their nose.
Hei Yue didn"t hesitate to tell them about the latest news, however, there was still nothing significance at the moment. Hei Yue was aware of the trio"s plan but he didn"t want to involve himself for one bit. Whatever happened to the princess, he didn"t care. He also decided not to interfere because what they did would maintain the balance of the three kingdoms.
Han Xiang had tried to find a way to contact the man behind her but to no avail. Han Er was everywhere around her and she kept fussing over Han Xiang with every little thing. Han Xiang wanted to get angry but couldn"t, because Han Er was fussing over her wellbeing. Xiao Fang was also the same, she kept following Han Xiang around and it made the latter feel frustrated. She couldn"t do a single thing right under their nose!
What Han Xiang didn"t know was... it was actually the trio"s plan all along --- to cut her off from the outside world. Yao Ying was the one ordered "the bandits" to kill all of Han Xiang"s maidservants just to cut her wings off so she was unable to do anything. Without the maidservants to do her bidding, what could she possibly do? Nothing!
They just needed to find out the truth so they knew what they should do toward the princess. If she was the real deal, no matter what the consequences were... they would bring her back to the general"s manor. But of course, she had to be indeed General Lin"s wife"s daughter in the first place. Other than that, she would be useless to them --- there would be a lot of ways to get rid of her.
"The woman is already here," Yao Ying told Yao Ling that the old woman has arrived at Lin Zhou.
Yao Ling tilted her head to the side and asked cutely, "How do you "persuade" her to come here?" Yao Ling used a soft word -- persuade but they were actually forcing them. She heard that they even brought along the woman who gave away her aunt"s secret for the sake of gossiping.
Lin Jian rolled his eyes when he saw Yao Ling act spoiled toward Yao Ying and answered on Yao Ying"s behalf, "We have our way. But basically... we tempted them with hefty sums of money. They lived a hard life after the aunt stopped working in the palace. So... it"s easy to lure them with money."
Yao Ling nodded her head in understanding. "Did they know beforehand what this is all about?"
"Of course not!" Lin Jian looked at her with a pointed look that saying "Do you still need to ask?", making Yao Ling roll her eyes back at him. "What the woman"s aunt knew... it supposed to be a secret. If she knew beforehand, I doubt that she would be willing to come here."
Yao Ling grinned. "Yes... yes... I"m just curious about your method to bring them here. I never thought that it would be that easy."
Through Xiao Yu, Yao Ling asked for Xiao Fang"s permission to bring Han Yi along with her. She wanted to know whether Han Yi would recognize the old aunt. It was up to Xiao Fang to distract Han Xiang so the latter didn"t really notice Han Yi"s disappearance. Xiao Fang gave her permission without a second thought and she made up some excuse about Han Yi being sick so Han Yi couldn"t attend to her. Han Xiang nodded without saying anything and it seemed like she believed that reason.
Han Yi followed Yao Ling and she asked, "Gu Niang, is this woman important to us?"
Yao Ling nodded. She already told Xiao Fang not to give the details to Han Yi because she wanted Han Yi to recognize the old woman on her own --- not because she told her too. Yao Ling answered, "Yes, she is. I hope you will be able to tell us who she is."
Han Yi nodded even though she was feeling doubtful. She wondered what"s with the secrecy.
Yao Ling told her, "We will see them from afar and I hope you can recognize her. However, don"t be too troubled. If you don"t recognize her, it"s also fine."
If Han Yi recognized her, she supposed that the old woman served around Han Xiang because Xiao Fang mostly stayed in Han Xiang"s courtyard when they were in the palace. If she didn"t recognize the old woman, she would find out by herself about this old woman"s ident.i.ty.
The old woman"s family was put in an old house but quite st.u.r.dy. It had been cleaned beforehand so it was suitable for people to live. The house size was far bigger than the house they used to live in. Her family consisted of four people --- the old woman, her niece, her niece"s husband, and the couple"s daughter. The aunt had been the one who brought up the couple because her niece"s parents had been long gone. They were wondering what sort of miracle happened for them to receive this good treatment.
However, what they didn"t know was... this was a gamble based on the old woman"s answer. Whether they would live or not, it depended whether the old woman had a satisfactory answer to give them or not.
Yao Ling pointed at the family from afar. "I want you to check on that old woman. Have you ever seen her in the palace before?"
Han Yi squinted her eyes, trying to see the old woman"s face more clearly. The old woman was sitting in front of the house and she was facing Yao Ling and Han Yi"s direction. It made Han Yi easier to see the old woman"s face.
The old woman was almost sixty years old and her face was full of wrinkles, showing that she didn"t lead a good life --- even though she served as a maidservant in the palace. Han Yi felt like she had seen the woman somewhere before but she couldn"t recall where she had seen her before.
Han Yi confirmed to Yao Ling, "Gu Niang, I think I"ve seen her in the palace."
Yao Ling"s heart skipped a bit, feeling excited. "Are you sure?"
Han Yi nodded.
"Can you remember where have you seen her before?" Yao Ling asked. "Where did she serve before?" Yao Ling"s curiosity got the better of her.
"Let me think about it..." Han Yi closed her eyes, trying to think where she had seen her before. She tried to recall the maidservants beside Han Xiang but it seemed like that there was no old maidservant as old as the old woman just now. Then, where did she see her before? After a little while of pondering over the matter, Han Yi gasped in surprise.
"I... I remember where I"ve seen that old woman before!" Han Yi exclaimed.
"Who is she?" Yao Ling quickly asked curiously.